Wooster's Sam MacMillan, left, looks for an open teammate as Chase Collegiate's Dan Nejaime (4) defends during their HVAL quarterfinal boys basketball game at Wooster's Forever Young Gym in Danbury Feb. 21, 2017. less

Wooster's Sam MacMillan, left, looks for an open teammate as Chase Collegiate's Dan Nejaime (4) defends during their HVAL quarterfinal boys basketball game at Wooster's Forever Young Gym in Danbury Feb. 21, ... more

Photo: Richard Gregory / Richard Gregory

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Chase Collegiate's Rob Jones, right, looks to make a pass as Wooster's Charles Gabrik (4) defends during their HVAL quarterfinal boys basketball game at Wooster's Forever Young Gym in Danbury Feb. 21, 2017.

Chase Collegiate's Rob Jones, right, looks to make a pass as Wooster's Charles Gabrik (4) defends during their HVAL quarterfinal boys basketball game at Wooster's Forever Young Gym in Danbury Feb. 21, 2017.

Photo: Richard Gregory / Richard Gregory

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Chase Collegiate's Rob Jones (3) looks to make a pass as Wooster's Bennett Wattles (21) defends during their HVAL boys basketball quarterfinal game at Wooster's Forever Young Gym in Danbury Feb. 21, 2017.

Chase Collegiate's Rob Jones (3) looks to make a pass as Wooster's Bennett Wattles (21) defends during their HVAL boys basketball quarterfinal game at Wooster's Forever Young Gym in Danbury Feb. 21, 2017.

DANBURY — As the reigning Housatonic Valley Athletic League champion, the Wooster boys basketball team knew heading into this season it would have a target on its back.

However, one by one, the Generals’ league rivals have lined up and tried to take down the defending champs — but to no avail. After an undefeated run through their conference schedule this season, the top-seeded Generals continued their march toward a second straight HVAL title with an 84-33 triumph over eighth-seeded Chase Collegiate in the league playoff quarterfinals Tuesday evening.

Wooster is set to host fourth-seeded Watkinson in the semifinals Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the Forever Young Gymnasium. That will be the second game in a Wooster doubleheader Thursday, as the girls basketball team, the top seed in its HVAL tournament, is scheduled to host fourth-seeded Christian Heritage School in their semifinals at 4 p.m.

“We’re hoping to make it again one last year. I think we’re poised to win again this year,” said Wooster’s Kern Byrnes, one of six General seniors honored at halftime for their contributions to the program.

While its offense was impressive in Tuesday’s quarterfinal win, Wooster’s defense stole the show. With or without its full-court press activated, Wooster’s high-energy defense gave Chase headaches all game long, repeatedly creating turnovers which led to buckets in transition. In a rematch of last year’s HVAL final, Wooster held Chase scoreless for nearly 10 straight minutes in the first half on its way to a 47-9 halftime lead.

“Wooster is the number one seed, and defense is the number one reason for that,” Chase Collegiate coach Tim Fitzpatrick said. “Their full-court press is suffocating.”

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“We did a great job with team defense,” Wooster coach David Newman said. “Our kids were flying around. And they were having fun. That’s really what we stress, that the harder they work on the defensive end, the more fun they have and it helps to create offense. This is good momentum at the right time.”

Wooster beat Watkinson twice in the last two weeks of the regular season, by 20 on Feb. 8 in Danbury, and by seven on Feb. 13 in Hartford.